Journal Entry Quarter 3:4

             As the many reform movements of the early twentieth century took hold a nation that had been through a series of "ups and downs," women were caught up in the frenzy to modernize. Women took up the cry for suffrage again. They recommitted to temperance movements. Most importantly however, they began to see themselves as closer to equal counterparts of men. Herland reflects this feminism, as the overall message of the novel is that women are just as capable as men.
          Among the oscillating features of the turn of the century American life was the economy. It swung down in the late nineteenth century, then up in the 20s, before crashing back again in the 30s. This economy was run almost solely by men. On the other hand, the women of Herland have specialized, doing the traditional jobs of men and women in farming, teaching, being scientists, building, governing, and archiving. Their economy is stable, strong, and shows no real weakens. Each woman is able to rely on the next, creating a community of trust. This ease reveals a contrast between the "real world" and the fantasy of Herland. Perhaps the message is not so much that women are better, but equal, but the novel points out the flaws of a society run solely by men.
         According to the novel, not only are women as "money smart" as men, the are also as willing (if not more so) to learn. When the three male scientists from the outside world enter their domain, they are full of questions. They do not only teach their language, they learn English. They do not only report their history, they investigate that of the larger world. The women are described as eager and inquisitive but not judgmental. One of the male characters, Terry, provides the perfect contrast to the open-mindedness of the women. He snorts and mumbles and rejects the ideas that the women could possibly be any different from the girls he viewed, rather disgracefully, as little more than play-dolls. Slowly however, the women seem to break through his shrouded vision, the perfect metaphor for the United States acknowledging the rights of women.

Journal Entry Quarter 3: 3

          The dreams of the women in Herland parallel the societal idea of the American Dream. While each individual has their own American Dream, unique to that person, there is also the concept of the American Dream as a general goal for all of the nation. Striving for success, achieving whatever level of happiness each person is satisfied with, perhaps even the concept of never being fully satisfies, all come together to form the communal American Dream, around which the individual develop their own. The women of Herland are similar in their communal goal. They want to create a society for their daughters that is as perfect as possible. They are in constant pursuit of knowledge. They study the three male scientists that the story follows with eagerness. Their American Dream consists of a land of happy, healthy women whose daily lives are not overburdened but not idle, whose daughters will know only a society founded upon the values of Motherhood.

          The women seem even to lay personal desires aside for the communal dream. here they differ from the vast majority of Americans. The concept of the general American Dream relies on the pursuit of the individual dreams. The society portrayed in Herland seems almost void of personal ambition, or at least the dreams of each woman are so centered around protecting the values of Motherhood and the lives of her daughters or her sisters daughters that there is no distinguishable difference between individual pursuits and societal goals. Therefore, even in a novel where the setting is filled with a people who all push towards the same, united goal, there is the concept of the American Dream, adapted to reflect the authors story.

Journal Entry Quarter 3: 2

Note: This blog was posted last Saturday, but due to less than exceptional internet connection, apparently did not actually post.


          The values and contributions that minorities make to the American society are reflected both in Herland and in the Harlem Renaissance. Both the novel and the movement demonstrate the powerful misconceptions and missed opportunities of a society that ignores or puts down the minorities. Herland shows that women are at least as capable as men of making decisions, creating a stable land, providing for themselves, working towards a common goal, and sustaining a high level of organization and standard of living. Though the novel is written from an obviously feminist perspective (even at times as far as radical feminism), the overall argument is sound: women give to society the values of Motherhood. Herland suggests that the men of the world outside the secluded little nation of the same name have been mission the opportunity to create a more moral and caring society by making women a lesser part of their world.
          The message of the Harlem Renaissance was not so different. African Americans strove to prove that their culture was not inferior, was not to be ignored. They knew that they had music and art and literature to add to the culture of America if they could only convince whites to share it. Through the Harlem Renaissance they did show off their culture. They did make inroads into the greater mind of America, singing, dancing, and writing their way into the history of this nation. They had a "point to prove." Minorities, by color or by sex, can contribute greatly to the society, particularly the American society.

Quarter 3: Entry 1

          The novel, Herland, reflects a period in American literature that is nearly the polar opposite of realism. Modernism seems to include elements of fantasy, use of political agenda, and reflection on that which is most certainly not. On the other hand, Realism, as its title implies, was an attempt to reflect the beauty, the scars, and the rough edges of ordinary, real life. Needless to say, reading at one moment McTeague: A Story of San Francisco and at the next Herland, could be quite a "shock to the system." McTeague is powerful, descriptive, and overly detailed. Herland is feminist, making the political point that women are perfectly capable of sustaining themselves and their society free from the influence of men. The contrast between the two stories, though written within a relatively brief span of time, is remarkable.
          Overall, the stories in these two books present the general contrast between Realism and Modernism. It is the same rejection of old thoughts for "new" ones as every other flip-flop in time periods of American Literature. We Americans focus on the divine, otherworldly, romantic, dream-land schools of thought, before seeming to awaken to a light of reason, truth-seeking, and rational, only to grow bored, and begin again to write of myths and fantasies. The transition between McTeague and Herland does not vary from this pattern. From what I have gathered between class discussions and personal reading, the two stories are reflections of their respective time periods, and they provide insight into the overall tendencies of each.

"The Snake" and The Snake

          The representation of nature has no definite or uniform shape, but rather the ability to change from author to author as liquid. Thus the image of the snake and the poem by Theodore Roethke, "The Snake," vary. The former is volatile, vicious, threatening, as it stands with jaws parted slightly. The latter shows respect, gives a dignity to the serpent that repulses so many.
          So many times students hear that they are to "paint the picture," they miss a certain concept of communication. The image of the snake has an entirely different connotation than the poem. It is not merely an image that captures the emotion behind words. That is precisely the reason literature is beautiful. It is always more than a picture. In such a way, the poem represents not only the image of a serpent, but the thoughts of the author as he stands watching it's actions, not with loathing or fear, but with a sense of awe. Roethke displays not revulsion, but respect, and not disgust, but a longing to become more like "the pure, sensuous form." He reflects a moment in American history that reveres nature for the simple fact that it is nature.
          The photo is not so kind to the reptile. It fears, it keeps its distance, it shows no connection to the snake. It's nature is insignificant. It's evil becomes the focus, a threat in full display. The dichotomy between the two representations of the snake shows the constant shift in the focus of American literature. At one moment the literature adores the symbolic and natural, the next it reasons through the danger. Smooth, slick scales that bask in the sun seize the attention at one moment, but the next, visions of fangs force one to back away.
          Therefore, the two representations speak not only of snakes, but of a tendency of humanity. Perhaps we see the beauty in the world at first glance, but on closer inspection, we find an ugly truth. Literature is simply a reflection of our observations. It is the reflection of those that we chose to place before the mirror of our writing.

Journal Entry Quarter 2: 4

          In my reading of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, I have noticed a reflection of American Literature as a whole. Through each of the time periods, Americans have rejected, rebelled against, and redefined the styles and ideas of previous literary movements. These literary revolutions have occurred with the shifting ideals of the culture as a whole, and with those of most individuals. Each time period redefines what "being an American" means, by redefining the American Dream, by redefining success and happiness. The American Dream is always the idea that an individual can reach their goals without some supervisor, employer, Jedi Master type looming over them, smacking them with a ruler every time they slip a toe out of line. Each person has the freedom to arbitrarily decide when they will be satisfied, successful, and happy. It is the nature of every new generation to see the very opposite of the previous one as happiness. Between Puritanism and Rationalism, there lies rebellion against the passive nature of predestination, while the people begin to invest themselves in Revolutionary thought, and the shaping of a nation. From Rationalism to Romanticism, people rejected the theories of logic and real-world evidence-based thought, for whimsical tales directed at a moral, as the citizens seek to better there lives, and develop a taste for luxury. For each time period there is a new trend in the culture. For each is a new version of the American Dream.
          This rejection of the old idea of happiness is among the most prevalent motifs in Fahrenheit 451. As main character Guy Montag begins to see that his world has lost the beauty of knowing in favor of ignorance, he personal rebells. He hides away books behind a vent. He turns the flamethrower on his boss, burning him to charcoal. He escapes the city on the run from the mechanical Hound, running as if he is not so much saving himself, but saving what he has discovered. Within that one novel, the American tendency to discover and remake and rebel is revealed. Guy was generally happy before his eyes were opened by the wonderfully rebellious knowledge of a girl who dared to stare at the sky and watch the wind send leaves rolling, cart-wheeling, across the lawns. He is forced to redefine his American Dream, much the way our Literature has been forced to change as we redefine the idea in the world of reality.

Journal Entry Quarter 2: 3

          If there is one time period that Fahrenheit 451 does not seem to hold a connection to, it is Rationalism. Ray Bradbury's novel develops a futuristic distopia where knowledge, reading, and discovery are forbidden. Books are burned, and possession of them is a crime. To the modern reader, the Post Modern story is entirely fantasy, even though it serves as a warning to hold on to words and to knowledge tightly through the ever faster shifting winds of technology. Bradbury uses a great deal of  creative liberty to assume dramatic results and devastating consequences for protagonist Guy Montag's world of ignorance. The novel therefore is more a rejection of Rationalism than an example of it, even though it defends the needs for both rational and creative thought.
         Rationalism defines the world in a logical and realistic way, which requires one to view the world through reason rather than imagination. The opposite of ideas inspired Bradbury. Where Rationalism focuses on the retelling of true events as the means of conveying a point, Romanticism - imagination, fantasy, nature, and fiction - uses pure imagination to "drive home" its point. Bradbury rejects to former for the use of the latter, much in the way that his nineteenth century predecessors rejected the same. For Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury chose the most effective style of Literature.